Just Another Dodgers Fan
by softballchic34
Summary: Don meets a girl one night after work. Will she be the one that can finally get him to settle down?
1. Just Another Dodgers Fan

A/N: This was written almost two years ago, I have written three other tag-ons to this fic which will be posted in time. Kate O'Riley is my OC. Also, I should mention that all these stories take place after season 2, that is when I started writing these. That is also the reason Megan is still in them and Liz and Nikki are not.  
Summery: Don meets a girl.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters on the show, nor do I make any profit from them.

Don sat at the bar watching the Dodgers game. He had originally hoped to watch the game with his dad and Charlie but they both had dates tonight, and he didn't feel like sitting alone in his dark apartment so he settled for sitting alone at a sports bar. The sports bar was not full by any means since it was a week night but almost all the stools at the bar were occupied

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" a woman asked motioning to the stool next to him.

"No go ahead, have a seat." Don replied.

"Thanks" the woman said as she sat down and ordered a drink. She directed her attention towards the screen that Don was staring at. "Who's winning?"

"Not L.A."

"Figures."

"Yeah I keep asking myself why I don't just choose a different team."

"I ask myself that question too, and the only answer I can come up with for that is because my uncle was a Dodgers fan and I always watched the games with him, even though I grew up in Minnesota and should have been cheering on the Twins."

"Yeah I think the only reason I keep watching is because I love baseball and grew up watching the Dodgers here in L.A., I'm Don by the way." he said extending his hand.

"Kate." she replied shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you Don."

"Nice to meet you too Kate, so what brings you to Los Angeles?"

"My job, I'm a physicians assistant; I just transferred here from Seattle. What do you do for a living Don?"

"I'm an FBI agent."

"Wow, FBI, that's impressive!"

"Thanks." Don said his cheeks getting slightly pink. '_Wow she's beautiful_' he thought. Kate was about 5'10'' with light brown hair and vibrant blue eyes with an amazing smile that lit up the room. "So do work in a hospital here or private practice?"

"I start at UCLA in two weeks, I just moved here two days ago from Seattle."

Don and Kate talked for quite awhile, completely ignoring the game that had brought them both there. Kate glanced down at her watch and realized it was almost 10 o'clock. "Well its getting late I should probably head home."

"Yeah I have to get up and be at a meeting early tomorrow so I should probably be going too. Would you like me to walk you to your car?" he asked.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Kate replied.

As they got to her car Kate said, "I had a really good time tonight Don."

"Yeah I did too. It was nice to meet you." '_Alright' Don thought 'It's now or never just ask her out casually_.' "Listen Kate, I was wondering, would like to get together again sometime for dinner?" he asked.

"I would love to. Here's my number, just call me sometime." She replied as she pulled some paper and a pen from her purse, jotted down her number, and handed it to Don.

"Alright then, I will call you then sometime in the next few days with plans for dinner."

"That sounds good Agent…?

"Eppes. And you are Miss…?

"O'Riley, Well I will look forward to you call but I should be going now Agent Eppes." she said as she climbed into her car he closed the door and watched her drive off while heading for his SUV.

On the drive back to his apartment Don realized that he had been smiling ever since he left the parking lot and the only thing he could think about was Kate. '_You better not screw this one up Eppes_.'

The End


	2. The First Date

Here is chapter 2. I will try to post the remaining stories once a week, most likely on Fridays. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters on the show, nor do I make any profit from them.

*************

Don sighed as he looked over his report. The day had been slow, full of meetings and paperwork; his team hadn't received any new cases since they closed the last one yesterday. He had finally finished his report after working on it for over 3 hours, it really only should have taken him an hour and a half but he found himself to be distracted, thinking about Kate. He glanced down at his watch realizing it was almost 6 o'clock. He filed his report, grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and walked out of the office, his team having left half an hour ago. Climbing into his SUV he decided to head for Charlie's house since he hadn't seen his dad for almost 4 days and Alan would most likely be worried about him.

On the drive over to Charlie's he noticed he was smiling again, thinking about Kate. '_I should really give her a call sometime soon about dinner arrangements. God she's beautiful_,' Then Don realized how easy it was to have a conversation with her the other night; it wasn't difficult to find something to talk about that they could both relate to. "_Aw hell_.' He said as he picked up his cell phone and dialed her number. "_If I don't do it soon I won't do it at all so I might as well do it now_."

"Hello?"

"Hi, Kate? This is Don Eppes."

"Hi Don, how are you?" she said trying not to sound too excited, she had been hoping that he would call soon because she really couldn't stop thinking about him.

"I'm good, how about yourself?"

"Pretty good, thanks."

"So, I was wondering if you're busy Friday night?"

"No, I don't believe I am." she replied, Don thought he could detect a smile in her voice.

"Would you like to join me for dinner Friday night?"

"I would love to."

"Great! I'll pick you up at 7 then?" He pulled into Charlie's driveway while she was giving him her address; they continued to talk for a few more minutes.

*************

Alan saw Don sitting outside in his SUV. Wondering why Don wasn't coming inside, he went out to see what was taking Don so long. As Alan stepped off the porch he saw Don laughing while talking on his cell phone. '_Must be a woman_.' he thought to himself '_Maybe there is hope for grandchildren after all_.' and with that thought he decided not to disturb his son and went back inside.

"Hey Dad!" Don said as he walked in the door several minutes later.

"Donnie!" Alan exclaimed, "How are you, I haven't seen you for four days!"

"Sorry Dad, I've been busy with work. Where's Charlie?"

"He called a few minutes ago said he was just leaving CalSci. I have ribeyes in the fridge for dinner tonight."

"Great I'm starving."

"So what were you doing sitting out in you truck for so long after you pulled into the driveway?"

"I was just talking with someone on the phone," he replied casually, "When's dinner?" he asked changing the subject.

'_Yep, definitely has to be a girl_.' "We'll eat when Charlie gets home, I'll go put the steaks on the grill now."

Charlie arrived twenty minutes later and they sat down to eat. It was silent for several minutes before Charlie broke the silence.

"So Don, are you coming over to watch the Dodgers game tomorrow night?"

"Nope. Sorry Chuck, I have plans already."

"Oh ok." and with that it was quiet again.

"So who is she?" Alan suddenly asked before he even realized what he'd said.

"Who's who?" Don replied.

"The woman you were talking to on the phone earlier while you were sitting out in your truck. I saw you sitting out there Donnie, you were laughing and when you walked in to the house several minutes later you were still smiling. I assume she's the reason you aren't coming over to watch the game tomorrow night." Alan stated matter-of-factly.

"Just someone I know." Don stood up to clear the table and take the dishes into the kitchen to be washed. He did not really want to talk about it since he had only just met Kate. After the dishes were finished and the baseball game on ESPN they had been watching was over Don decided to head back to his apartment and turn in early for the night.

********************

It was 4:30 on Friday, the day had been much like yesterday with no new cases, just getting caught up on the ever growing pile of paperwork surrounding Don's desk.

"Alright guys we've been doing paperwork all day why don't you call it quits for today since this is one of few times where we can actually go home early."

His team stared at him for a few seconds trying to digest the fact that Don Eppes, their workaholic boss who practically lived in the office, was actually letting them go early on a Friday.

"You got a date or something tonight Don or what?"

"Shut up Granger." Don replied hiding his smile. "You guys better hurry up before I change my mind about letting you go early."

"Yes sir." Colby gave a mock salute, hiding a smirk as he and the two other agents grabbed their things and headed out of the office.

Don figured if he left now he'd have enough time to go back to his apartment, take a shower, get cleaned up, and still have a little time to spare before he picked up Kate for dinner.

***************

Don pulled up in front of Kate's house a little before 7; it was a small one story house with a small yard. Don stepped out of his SUV and made his way to the door. About a minute after he knocked the door opened revealing Kate looking even more beautiful than she had the other night. Don was speechless.

"Hi." He finally managed to say as he handed her a bouquet of flowers he had picked up on the way over.

"Thank you, they're beautiful!" she replied. "Let me get a vase for these and then we can be on our way." She head back through the hall in search of a vase. A few short minutes later Kate was back and set to go.

"So, what's for dinner tonight?" Kate asked as she and Don walked out to his SUV.

"How does Italian sound?"

"Wonderful!" she said as Don opened the door to his SUV for her.

**************

Don had made reservations at a nice Italian restaurant; they were seated outside where it was about 70 degrees and had a beautiful view of the sunset. Kate was telling him about herself and Don listened intently. Currently she was telling him about growing up in Minnesota.

"It wasn't very big, about fifty kids in my graduating class. After high school I decided I wanted a change of scenery and wanted to go to a west coast school and ended up going to school in Seattle. Then I decided I didn't really like Seattle that much and moved here. But enough about me I want to hear about you. Have you always lived in Los Angeles?"

"I grew up here and went to collage here on a baseball scholarship. After collage I played in the minors for the Stockton Rangers for a couple of years then I decided baseball wasn't what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and went to Quantico for training. I was in Albuquerque for a while and moved back to LA when my mother got sick." He decided it was best, since it was really only their first date, to leave out the detail about being engaged at the time when he came back to LA and was planning on moving back New Mexico before Kim broke off their engagement.

"So do you still have family here?"

"Yeah my dad and Charlie, my little brother, are still here. Do you have any siblings?"

"I have an older brother, a younger brother, and a younger sister."

"Oh yeah? Are they all still in Minnesota?"

"No Mark my oldest brother is in Chicago, but Kristie is in Minneapolis, and Tommy is in St. Paul."

They continued to talk for a while longer until the waiter brought them the check. After Don paid the check he drove Kate home and walked her to her door. As they were saying good night they heard a crashing noise coming from the back yard.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know I will go check it out."

"Don what if there's someone back there?" she asked as they heard it again.

"Hey, relax, I'm an FBI agent, I'm trained for this sort of stuff. I'll be fine." He said reassuringly as he walked her towards his truck. "Now, I want you to sit in my truck and lock the doors until I get back. Ok?" he said as he unlocked the glove compartment and grabbed his service weapon and flashlight. Kate looked at him strangely as pulled the objects out of the glove compartment. "I'm required to carry it with me, even when I'm not on duty." And with that he headed for the back yard.

Peering around the corner of the house he saw a squirrel running away from a couple of broken bird feeders lying on the ground at the base of a tree. After checking out the rest of the yard just to be sure, he went back to his SUV to tell Kate.

"It was just a squirrel that got into your bird feeders." Don told her.

"Thank you. I would have been pretty worried if I had been alone and had heard that. The previous owners forgot to take the bird feeders with them." After a sort pause she decided to ask, "Would you like to come in for coffee Don?" Accepting her invitation for coffee, they made their way inside.

**************  
I wasn't sure on how to end it so I hope this works. Please review and tell me what you think.


	3. Dinner With the Family

This is set 3 months after The First Date and was written way before Megan left Numb3rs.

Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters on the show, nor do I make any profit from them.

***********

Don and Kate were sitting on the couch in Don's apartment watching some comedy movie on pay-per-view. Kate was curled up next to Don with her head on his shoulder. Don had his arms wrapped around Kate, holding her close.

Don wasn't really paying any attention to movie; his mind had been wandering ever since they had started the movie. He was thinking about his relationship with Kate. They had been going out for three months now. They hadn't said those three little words yet, but Don was really starting fall in love with her and every time he sees her he comes closer and closer to believing that it would work out between them.

He hadn't told his father and Charlie about Kate yet. He didn't want to tell them until he was sure their relationship was going to be more than just a few dates and a movie here and there like his relationship with Robin had been. When he told his Dad about Robin breaking up with him, Alan seemed disappointed despite saying that it had to be a good thing since Don hadn't pulled the plug on their relationship. Plus he knew that if his dad knew about Kate he would be constantly reminding Don about the grandchildren that he doesn't have yet but would really, really, really like.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud clap of thunder and the sudden rain beating against his windows. He looked down at Kate's face surprised to see her eyes closed looking so peaceful and relaxed. It was about 11 o'clock; Don hated to wake Kate up, especially since Kate had to be at the hospital early in the morning because she had an appointment with a patient at 7am, and his apartment was closer to the hospital anyway. So as gently as he could so he didn't wake her up, he lifted her into his arms and carried her into his bedroom and laid her on his bed, pulling the covers up around her. Then without even thinking he laid down on the other side of the bed. Within seconds he was in a deep, peaceful sleep.

**************

The next morning Don woke up at 5 next to Kate, wrapped in each others arms. He sighed contently and laid there for a few more minutes before finally getting up to take a quick shower and get ready for work. After his shower he went out to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Don went back into his bedroom and sat next to Kate on the bed, lightly kissing her temple he ran his fingers through her hair and gently whispered, "Kate, you need to get up baby."

"Why? What time is it?" she asked rolling over in bed.

"It is about five thirty, and you have a meeting this morning."

Cracking her eyes open she looked around and asked, "Why am I in your bed?"

"You fell asleep last night when we were watching the movie and I didn't want to wake you up and it was storming, the roads were bad."

"Oh."

Standing up Don said, "I have fresh coffee in the kitchen."

"Ok, Don do you mind if I use your shower, I don't have enough time to go back to my place and still get to work on time."

"Yeah, go ahead."

Twenty minutes later Kate entered the kitchen and Don greeted her with a nice simple breakfast of eggs, toast, and coffee. They ate mostly in silence until Kate finally said, "Don, when you were talking me earlier did I hear you call me 'baby'?"

"Yes, why?"

"Oh. I was just wondering." After a few minutes she finally spoke again, just loud enough for Don to hear, "I like it when you call me that."

Smiling Don replied "Good, because I like it too." Don stood and refilled both their coffee cups then he remembered he had to grab some files from his desk in the living room for work today. He came back and set them on the counter top, "Will you remind me to take these today? I keep forgetting them."

"Yeah sure."

"Thank you." Don's cell phone chirped. "Eppes." he answered. It was Colby at the office saying he found something on the surveillance tapes for the kidnapping case they were currently working on. "Yeah, I'm on my way."

Standing up to put the dishes in the sink he said, "Sorry, I have to go, Colby found something that I need to look at."

Before Don left he gave her a quick kiss however, it turned into a long passionate kiss. Pulling away Kate said, "Don you really have to go now."

"Oh. Right." Then as he walked out the door he turned and said. "Call me later?"

"OK." After Don left Kate went back to the table and put her dishes in the sink as she finished her coffee. He phone rang; it was the receptionist at the hospital saying that the appointment had been rescheduled for next week, which meant she didn't have to be in until 8. Walking out of Don's apartment she noticed the files Don was supposed to take with him on the countertop. She tried calling Don to tell him but the line was busy, so she decided to just drop them off on the way to work.

**************

Don had to call Charlie in to help with their current case. Charlie was trying to create another one of his algorithms to narrow down the suspect list on a kidnapping case, however once again Charlie didn't have enough data to create a sufficient algorithm. Don was shuffling through the files laid out on the table trying to find the ones he needed then after about five minutes he said to Charlie, "I think the files you need are back at my apartment, I will go get them now."

"Well hold on, I'll go with you." Charlie replied.

Don and Charlie were walking out of the building, on their way to get the files Don forgot, when Kate walked into the building.

"Hey Don, you forgot these this morning. I tried calling you but you didn't pick so I thought I would drop them off on my way to the hospital."

"Thanks, I was just about to go get them." Don said then he remembered Charlie was standing next to him. "This is my brother Charlie by the way. Charlie this is Kate O'Riley."

"Nice to meet you, Charlie." she said shaking Charlie's hand.

"My pleasure." Charlie replied.

"I thought you had an appointment right now?"

"No, I guess they rescheduled it. I got the call a few minutes after you left." Kate's beeper went off just then displaying a 911 call. "Sorry Don I have to go now. It was nice meeting you Charlie. I'll call you later Don." and with that she was gone.

"So…" Charlie said with grin on his face as soon as she was out of earshot, "Who is she, and why was she at your apartment this morning?"

Don sighed. "She's just… We've been seeing each other for a while now. And no it's not what you think. I made her dinner last night and then we watched a movie, she fell asleep during the movie, the roads were bad because of the storm, and I didn't want to wake her since she had to be at work early today. So she just stayed over."

"She a doctor?"

"Physicians assistant."

"How long have you been seeing her?"

"For about three months now."

"And you haven't told me or Dad yet!?"

"Nope." At Charlie's hurt look he added, "We just wanted to keep it quiet for a little while, you know make sure it was going to be more than just a few dinners here and there and maybe an occasional movie. And I didn't want Dad nagging about grandkids already."

"Oh… She's hot." Charlie replied with a grin.

Don grinned back and said, "Sorry Chuck, she's mine, you've got Amita remember?"

**************

As soon as Charlie looked through the files Kate dropped off, he was able to narrow down the suspect list with his algorithm to one guy.

"Alright guys, Charlie managed to narrow it down to one guy, Carson Parker, file says he was arrested for kidnapping a child in 1992, he was in prison until 2000. LAPD said they had a report of a man matching his description checking into a hotel with a little girl. Last call he made on his cell phone was 10 minutes ago, he was still at the hotel. So let's go."

Don walked into the hotel lobby, "Hi I'm Special Agent Don Eppes and this is Agent David Sinclair with the FBI. We're looking for one of your guests staying here, Carson Parker, can you tell me what room he's in?" he said to the manager.

"He's in room 312 right down that hallway." the manager said pointing towards a hall on the right.

"Ok, Thanks."

Colby and Megan had been the first to make entry in the room. It was empty but Megan could hear a child crying in the room, peering under the bed she found a little girl under it. "Hi sweetie, its okay, your going to be fine, my name's Megan, I'm going to take you back to your parents ok?"

The little girl nodded slowly crawling out from under the bed clutching Megan's hand then wrapping her arms tightly around Megan's neck.

Don and David had been waiting by the door leading outside of the hotel room incase the suspect made a run for it. They saw the suspect come out the back door and run in the opposite direction.

"FBI Freeze!" Don and David yelled in unison. Parker didn't get too far before Don tackled him to the ground scraping up his arm in the process. "Carson Parker, you're under arrest for the kidnapping of Morgan Klein." Don said as he cuffed his hands behind his back, reading him his Miranda rights.

**************

It had been a long day. Don was taking Megan back to the office after taking Morgan home to her parents. Don's cell trilled. "Eppes."

"Donnie!" his father exclaimed. "I've been worried about you, you hardly ever stop by anymore. What have you been doing?"

"Sorry Dad, I've been working." It wasn't entirely a lie, he had worked late every night this week except for last night, he was going to but then Kate called and said she was able to get off work early.

"Well, I forgive you but you are coming over for dinner tonight no excuses."

"Dad, I'm supposed to have dinner with someone tonight."

"Well bring Kate with you, that is her name right?"

"Wait, who told you I was seeing anyone?"

"Charlie accidentally let it slip today."

_Damn it Charlie_, Don swore to himself. "Alright fine, I'll call you back and let you know." And with that Don hung up.

"Charlie ratted you out to your Dad?" Megan said looking at Don.

"Ya know its times like this when I really wish you weren't a profiler. Wait a second; you knew I'm seeing someone?"

"Well I wasn't positive but yeah I was pretty sure you were. What's her name?"

Don sighed he didn't feel like playing twenty questions so he just told her about Kate. "Her name is Kate; we've been seeing each other for a few months now. I didn't tell Dad, and Charlie just found out this morning when she dropped off some files that I forgot. Charlie let it slip today when he was talking to Dad. I was going to tell them sometime soon, it's just that Dad gets all excited every time Charlie and I start seeing some one and then he reminds us that he doesn't have any grandchildren yet. And Charlie can't keep a secret worth a crap."

Megan laughed at Don's last comment and said, "Wow you must be tired, you've never said that much about your personal life in four sentences before."

"No, I just didn't feel like playing twenty questions with 'Megan the Profiler' today."

Don pulled up next to Megan's car and let her out. "Thanks Megan."

"No problem Don."

Don picked up his cell and called Kate. "Kate O'Riley." she answered.

"Hey."

"Hi Don. I was just about to call you, what's up?"

"Well. My dad called and wants to know if you and I would like come over for dinner tonight, if that's ok with you."

"Yeah sure, I would love to meet you father."

"Thanks. Are you at home?"

"Yeah I was just about to grab a quick shower and change into something other than my scrubs."

"I'm just leaving my office; I'll be over to pick you up in a little while."

"Ok. Bye Don, see you soon."

Don arrived at Kate's house about forty-five minutes later; Kate answered the door when he rang the door bell, "I'm just going to dry my hair quick if that's okay."

"Yeah, Dad said dinner wouldn't be ready until about 7 anyway and it's only 5:30 now so we have plenty of time." Taking off his jacket he winced a little when it brushed the scrape on his arm he had totally forgotten about.

"What's wrong Don?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing I just scraped my arm up a little bit at work today."

"Let me have a look."

"No, you don't have to do that, its nothing, really."

"Don, I think I'm more qualified to decide that than you are here, you should let me look at it."

"Hey it's my arm; I'm pretty sure I can tell if my arm is okay." Don replied with a grin.

"It may be okay but it still needs to be looked at and cleaned up. And if you're a good boy you can have a lollipop when I'm done." she said mirroring his grin.

"Well I suppose I can let you take a look at it. I'm holding you to that lollipop though." He laughed as he held out his dirty, bloody arm for her to see.

"Don, it's full of dirt. Here, come to the bathroom and I will clean it up for you." Kate led Don into the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit from the drawer next to the sink and started to clean the scrape.

"This is one nasty scrape, how did you do this?"

"Chasing a suspect on a kidnapping case, he wouldn't stop running so I had to tackle him." He hissed in pain as she put some disinfectant on it.

"Sorry. I should have warned you that was going to sting." She finished cleaning it. "Just to keep the bacteria out so it doesn't get infected." She said as she wrapped some gauze around his arm. "There ya go, nice and clean."

"Thanks." Don said, "Where's my lollipop?"

"How 'bout something better?" she leaned over to kiss him.

**************

They pulled up in front of Charlie's house about an hour later. "Thanks again for doing this."

"Really Don, it's not a problem, I want to meet your family."

They walked up to the house, Don opened the door for her and then called out "Hi Dad."

"Donnie, it's nice to see you." Alan rushed to the entry way.

"Dad, this is Kate O'Riley, Kate this is my father Alan."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Eppes."

"My pleasure," Alan smiled and shook her hand warmly, "Why don't you two have a seat in the living room, we can eat in about 10 minutes."

"Is there anything we can help you with Mr. Eppes?"

"No I'm about done, but thank you for asking and please, call me Alan."

"Ok, Alan."

"Donnie! What did you do to your arm?" Alan asked worriedly noticing the gauze wrapped around Don's arm as he took off his jacket.

"Its nothing Dad, I just scraped it up at work. I'm fine really, no stitches or anything, trust me, I had someone look at it and clean it up earlier."

"Well how did you scrape your arm anyway? You weren't shot at were you?"

"No dad I just had to tackle a guy, he was running and wouldn't stop, that's how I scraped my arm."

"You're sure its fine?"

"Alan, I looked at his arm and cleaned it up for him, you don't have to worry. He'll be fine, although he might have a nasty scar." Kate tried to reassure Alan that his son really was fine.

***************

"Thanks for getting my Dad off my back about my arm. He gets a little freaked out when I get a little scraped up at work. He starts getting all overprotective and hovers over me constantly."

"It's not a problem. I was kind of getting that vibe when he kept asking all those questions." she said taking a seat in the living room.

"Well it's a good thing you're a PA so you can reassure him for me when he won't listen to me." he said as they both started laughing.

It was silent for a while so Kate tried striking up a conversation, "So… this is the house you grew up in?"

"Yeah, my Dad was going to sell it a few years ago but Charlie bought it instead and Dad never moved out."

"It's nice."

"Thanks."

"Donnie!" Alan called from the kitchen, "Will you go out and see what's taking your brother so long in the garage? I yelled at him to come in 15 minutes ago."

"Yeah, sure Dad."

"The garage?" Kate asked curiously.

"Yeah Charlie has about a dozen chalk boards out there so he can work on his math and not be interrupted."

"Ahh I see."

"I'll be right back."

Don entered the garage not surprised to see Charlie standing in front of one of his chalk boards scribbling furiously with his iPod cranked up, totally oblivious to his surroundings.

"Hey Chuck." Don didn't get any response so he tried again a little louder, "HEY CHUCK!" still no response after repeating himself four times, so he changed tactics and bellowed at the top of his lungs, "FBI, PUT THE CHALK DOWN!" That got Charlie's attention as he whipped around dropping his chalk on the floor.

Glaring at Don Charlie said, "What the hell do think you doing Don? You scared the crap out of me."

Don grinned at Charlie and said, "Sorry Chuck but I've been trying to get your attention for five minutes now."

"No you haven't."

"Yeah I have, now c'mon Chuck lets go eat."

"Stop calling me Chuck."

"Sorry Chuck, not gonna happen."

*************

After Don, Kate, and Charlie sat down at the table Alan came into the dinning room carrying a large pan of lasagna. "This is Dad's famous lasagna." Don told Kate.

"It looks wonderful."

Alan dished up their plates and sat down. "So Kate, you're a doctor?"

"I'm a physician assistant."

"Wow, what hospital do you work at?"

"I just started at UCLA a few months ago."

Alan nodded and directed this question towards Don, "So how long have you known each other?"

"For a while now, few months." he said casually.

Charlie noticed that Alan was starting to get mad about Don keeping his relationship with Kate a secret for so long. He decided to be the nice brother that he was and change the subject. "So Don, how's that case going that I was helping you on today?"

"Great Buddy, we managed to catch Parker fleeing from that hotel. You really helped a lot on this case. Thanks."

They had a wonderful dinner as they talked about their lives, getting to know each other. After dinner was over and the dishes were done, Alan brought out the scrabble board and began a very competitive game of scrabble. Charlie quit after the first game having been beaten horribly by all three of them. Don and Kate were getting very competitive, both being very, very good at spelling.

"Well I suppose we should be going now Dad, thanks for dinner."

"Yes, I think that was one of the best pieces of lasagna I have ever had. It was wonderful, and it was very nice to meet you Alan."

"Thank you. I was great meeting you too. Please, you two can stop by anytime for dinner. There's always enough to feed a few extra people."

*************

"You father is very nice Don, and a wonderful cook." Kate said as Don drove her home. "I really enjoyed meeting your family tonight."

"Good, I'm glad you like them. I was sorta scared they were going to scare you away." He said smiling at her. He pulled up in front of her house, engaging in a long passionate kiss before letting her out. "I think its best if we take this inside."

"I think your right." She said as Don scooped her into his arms and carried her inside, she wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled all the way in.

************  
So I think this is by far my favorite of the fics i have written, it was also the easiest after i got going on it. Tell me what you all think please.


	4. Three Little Words

Three Little Words

A/N: This takes place the morning after Dinner with the Family. I rewrote my original story and made it longer, hence the delay in posting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters on the show. Nor do I make any profit from them.

************

It was Saturday and for once Don's weekend off coincided with Kate's weekend off. Don was lying in bed with Kate at her house. Her head was resting on his bare chest as she slept while Don ran his hand through her soft hair, lost in thought.

He was thinking back about the conversation he had with his dad last night when he was helping with the dishes and Kate was in the other room.

"_Kate seems like a nice person Donnie." Alan said as he handed Don a plate to dry._

"Yeah she's great."

"How long have you known her?"

"About three months now."

"You know Don, now that I think about it you have seemed a lot happier these last few months. I just hadn't picked up on the why until now"

"Yeah, I am happier now."

After a long pause Alan said, "I can see it in your eyes Donnie."

"See what?"

"They way you feel about her. Whenever her name is mentioned your eyes go soft and I can see how much you care for her."

"Well I do care about her, a lot… I don't know Dad, there's just something about her that's different from the other women I have been with. She understands me, I understand her… Its like I have always known her."

"Have you shared these feelings with her?"

"Well no, not yet. But-" Don was cut off by his father.

"Donnie, if you want to have a good successful relationship you have to open up and share your feelings."

"I know Dad I know, I just wanted to wait for the right time. I don't want to screw this up, ya know?"

"I know Donnie; I'm just saying you need to open up. Sooner rather than later."

Don's thoughts drifted back to the present. Although neither one of them had said I love you yet, Don was pretty sure that it was an unspoken mutual feeling.

He'd never felt so right holding a women in his arms before as he did when he held Kate, it was different with her than it was with Kim and Nikki and Robin.

Sure he had loved Kim and had wanted to marry her but now thinking back on his relationship with her, he was glad that they didn't get married. It never would have lasted, not with the amount of time they both spent working, both in the office and at home. It was the same with Nikki and Robin, spending so much time working and then when they did find time for just the two of them, they usually ended up talking about work.

Now that Don was dating Kate, he realized the importance of dating someone outside of law enforcement. It was nice to be able to keep work at work and not have their conflicting views on some case come between them. Don liked being able to come home at the end of the day and spend time with someone who wasn't exposed to the same horrific events that he saw on a daily basis. He liked the fact that if he was bothered by something at work he could talk to Kate about it and she would listen and give an unbiased opinion.

Don also liked the fact that Kate didn't constantly ask him if something was bothering him. She wasn't always telling him that he needed to open up about his feelings. Kate seemed to understand that Don would open up and talk when he was ready. Don thought that Kate seemed to understand him better than any of his other previous girlfriends.

Don's train of thought was interrupted when he felt Kate stir next to him.

"Hey there, Beautiful." Don said as she opened her eyes and gave him a tired smile.

"Morning G-man" she yawned.

"Did you sleep good last night?"

"Wonderful." Kate replied and giggled as Don ran his hand down her bare back. "Hey that tickles!"

Don laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. He kissed her gently and murmured "I love you."

"I love you too, Don" Kate replied softly as she kissed him back.


	5. C is for Catch

Title: C is for Catch

A/N: This was written for the 2008 Summer Alphabet Fic Challange over at numb3rs dot org. This is the last of the Don/Kate fics that I had prewritten. I have a few ideas for a couple more oneshots in this series. In the future I hope to sporadically update this with more oneshots but who knows how often I will be able to (or feel like) writing. I also have a longer multichapter fic in progress but who knows when it will be posted.

Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters that appear on the show, but I do reserve the right to Kate O'Riley.

************

Dr. Kate O'Riley was sitting in the staff lounge at UCLA hospital doing her never-ending stack of paperwork. So far it had been a quiet day, there hadn't been any major injuries yet, then again it was only 11am. There was still plenty of time left for a major emergency to pop up.

Kate had just finished one large stack of paperwork and was about to start another when she was interrupted by Rachel Quentin, one of the nurses who was also a good friend.

"Kate, you have a visitor out by the desk." Rachel stated.

"Who is it?" Kate sighed, today was the first day all week that she had actually been able to sit down and do paperwork for more than 10 minutes at a time and she really was not thrilled about being interrupted.

"He didn't say his name but he's tall, dark, and handsome, and he carries himself like he's in law enforcement."

Kate smiled and put down the papers; just from the description Rachel gave she knew it had to be Don out there. "I will be right out."

*************

As Kate approached the desk and saw Don standing there smiling at her with two coffees in one hand and a bag from the small café down the street in the other.

"Hey there Beautiful." Don said smiling as Kate sauntered up to him.

Kate blushed slightly and smiled back, "Hey Don! This is a surprise, what brings you here?"

"Well I was in the area and thought I'd stop by to see if you wanted to grab some lunch."

"Yeah, I would love to!"

"I was hoping you would say that." Don replied. "I was thinking we could go outside and eat in the hospital garden."

"That sounds great!" Kate looped her arm through Dons. "Lead the way."

"So how is your day going so far?" Don asked as they made their way out to the hospital garden. They sat down at an unoccupied bench under an old tree that provided plenty of shade to keep the sun out of their eyes.

"Pretty good actually, it's been pretty quiet so far, no emergencies yet. How has your day been?"

"It has been good, just trying to wrap up a few loose ends on one of our cases morning and I have to interview a witness this afternoon. Other than that not a whole lot going on at the office."

"So you mean today is one of those rare days when both of us might actually get off work at normal times and be able to spend more time together?" Kate asked with a grin.

Don grinned back, "It might be. Are you suggesting we get together tonight too?" his grin had turned into a full fledged smile now.

"You shouldn't have to ask to know what I'm suggesting Agent Eppes." she laughed.

After they both had finished their sandwiches Don reached into the forgotten paper bag and pulled out two small white boxes that were no more than 4 inches wide and two inches tall.

"I have something else for you too." Don said and handed her one of the white boxes.

"Hmm I wonder what this is."

Kate opened the small box and let out a small squeal when she saw the chocolate caramel cheesecake square. "Don this is my favorite! How did you know?"

"Well they do teach us a thing or two about observation in the FBI."

"They do huh?"

"Yep they do. The last two times we have gone out for dinner and ordered dessert, you ordered chocolate caramel cheesecake." Don stated rather matter-of-factly.

Kate grinned, leaned over, and kissed Don. "What did your excellent FBI observational skills tell you about that G-man?"

"That we should definitely get together tonight after work and continue this."

As Don walked Kate back to the hospital they made plans to see each other after they were both done working for the day. Don walked Kate back to the staff lounge and then left to go interview a witness who was admitted up on the next floor.

Kate went back to doing her paperwork. She had been working on it for all of 10 minutes when she was interrupted yet again.

Rachel came in and sat down next to Kate with a big grin on her face and began grilling Kate about Don. "So was that your boyfriend because he seems like a catch."

Kate smiled; yes Don Eppes was definitely a catch.

The End


	6. Worry

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I have not had a lot of time to write or post anything in recent weeks. Also, I should mention that all these stories take place after season 2, that is when I started writing these. That is also the reason Megan is still in them and Liz and Nikki are not.

Summery: When Don doesn't show up for a date, Kate gets worried.

Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters that appear on the show nor do I make any profit from them. I do reserve teh right to Kate O'Riley though.

Kate was sitting in her living room with the phone in her hand as she watched the front door. She was hoping that Don would either call or walk through the door any minute now. When she and Don met for lunch earlier that afternoon they had made plans to meet at her house for dinner that evening. Don was supposed to be at Kate's house around 6:00. Now it was almost 9:30 and Kate had yet to see or hear from him.

She was really starting to worry. Kate had tried calling Don's cell phone but it kept going to voicemail and every time she tried calling the office, the operator said he was unavailable. It was not like him to not call when he had to cancel a date or was going to be late and he had never been more than 20-30 minutes late before.

Kate jumped when her phone rang. "Hello?" she answered quickly.

"Susan?" the person on the other end asked.

"Sorry, you have a wrong number." Kate replied and hung up quickly. She wanted to keep the line open in case Don called.

She decided to try calling his cell phone again. Just as Don's voicemail came on, she heard a car door shut outside. Kate hung up the phone just as Don walked through the door. She was momentarily shocked at his appearance.

Don looked rather haphazard. The white dress shirt he was wearing earlier was gone; he was wearing what used to be a white undershirt. It was now rather gray and had dark smudges of dirt all over it. He had smudges on his face as well; there was a neat row of stitches on the right side of his forehead, just below the hairline and his left hand was heavily bandaged.

After a few seconds Kate recovered from her shock and rushed over and hugged him. "Don! Thank God! Are you okay? What happened?" her questions came out in a rush as she stepped back.

Don set the brown paper bag he was carrying on the table next to the door before he spoke.

"I'm okay." Don leaned over and kissed her, "Really, I'm okay. I just got into a bit of a scuffle at work." He gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face with his uninjured hand and kissed her again.

"Don please, what happened?" Kate asked with concern as she led him to the living room. "You look like you need to sit down."

"Thanks," Don took a seat in the wood rocking chair, not wanting to get the couch or other chairs dirty with his clothes. "We had a break through on the serial murder case that we have been working on for the last month. A tip came in that our main suspect, Kevin Philips, was taking a couple of unconscious girls into an old abandoned warehouse. When we raided the warehouse, Philips slipped through a trap door that we didn't know about. But before he slipped out, he set the place on fire and with all the saw dust in that place it burned pretty quickly."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "While we were evacuating the warehouse, a piece of debris fell and hit me on the head and I burned my hand while I was getting one of the girls out."

"Oh my god!" Kate was about to ask Don if he was okay again but stopped herself. She knew how it annoyed Don when people constantly asked him that; besides Don had never lied to her before, she trusted that he was telling her the truth now.

"Did everyone else make it out okay?"

"Yeah, for the most part everyone made it out fine. The two girls had been drugged but otherwise weren't harmed, they are staying overnight at the hospital though. Colby, David, and the rest of the agents inside all made it out with nothing more that a few minor cuts and burns and some smoke inhalation."

"Thank god you're all okay. I take it you didn't catch the killer then?"

"Actually as Megan and a few other agents were getting to the scene, they saw him running down the street about a block away. When he saw them approaching he pulled a gun and started firing… he didn't make it."

Don cleared his throat and stood, "I'm going to grab a shower quick."

"Okay, do you want me to heat up a plate of chicken for you?"

"No thanks, I'm not really hungry right now."

Kate watched Don retreat to the bathroom. She leaned her head back on the couch and let out a heavy sigh and sent up a quick prayer thanking God for Don's safe return.

She knew Don's job was dangerous and that he was more likely to get injured on the job but knowing that didn't make it any easier to have Don show up with injuries, even if they were minor. Knowing that also caused more worry when he was late for one of their dates.

Twenty minutes later Don emerged from the bathroom dressed in a pair of black sweat pants and an old t-shirt that he kept at Kate's house. He grabbed the paper bag he left by the front door earlier and made his way to the living room where he found Kate still sitting on the couch.

Don sat down next to her and kissed her gently on the cheek.

Kate leaned her head on his shoulder. "What's that?" she nodded toward the bag Don still held.

"It's just some bandages and antibiotics." He held up his injured left hand, "Do you mind putting a clean dressing on it for me?"

"Yeah, just let me go wash my hands first." Kate went into the kitchen to wash her hands and returned a moment later.

She sat down on the coffee table across from Don and emptied the bag's contents beside her on the table. She took his injured hand gently and inspected the angry red mark that covered a little less that half his palm to make sure it was clean.

"Don, this is a second degree burn." She stated with concern.

"Yeah." Don agreed quietly.

"I will be as gentle as I can but it's still going to hurt quite a bit." Kate gave him a sympathetic smile as he nodded.

Don bit his lower lip to keep from vocalizing his discomfort as she applied some antibiotic cream and wrapped a fresh bandage around his hand. He studied her troubled expression.

"You okay?"

Kate sighed, "I was really worried about you Don."

"Hey, I'm okay." Don said softly.

"I know. It's just, when you didn't show up for dinner and you didn't call or answer your phone, I was so afraid that something happened to you. You always call when you are going to be late or have to cancel." Kate finished wrapping Don's hand.

He took her hand with his good one and gently pulled her towards him. "Come here."

He waited for her to sit before he spoke, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. My phone fell off my belt in the fire, that why I didn't answer. I should have called you and let you know what happened after I got to the hospital. I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I forgive you. Just next time, make sure you call me so I won't lose my mind with worry. I don't think I could handle it if I lost you."

Don wiped away a stray tear from her cheek, "I promise I will call next time I am going to be late or something happens, and I promise I will always do my best to come home to you." Don leaned over to kiss her and whispered, "I love you Kate."

She kissed him back. "I love you too Don."


End file.
